On the recordAugust 10, 2010
That would guarantee these emergency Federal education funds are actually spent on education in Texas. As drafted, this Texas fix has no impact on anything else. I am standing here because it is about education and public safety. I believe we are doing the right thing, and I ask my colleagues to vote on the underlying bill and the rule. I rise in strong support of the rule for H.R. 1586, the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act. I support this legislation because it will save and create 319,000 American jobs--many of them in the education and health sectors. In less than a month, millions of American students will return to school eager to begin a new year of academic and personal growth. However, the quality of the schools they return to is a matter to be determined. Throughout the country, thousands of teachers have lost, or risk losing, their jobs. This is something our children and our educators can ill afford. As we work to regain economic ground, this legislation provides a total of $10 billion in funding for education jobs to sustain thousands of schools educating millions of children. Moreover, this includes $830.2 billion dollars for primary and secondary schools in the state of Texas. I am pleased that this legislation includes a provision that requires Governor Perry to certify that these emergency appropriations for public education will be used solely to add new funds for public education and not misused for other purposes.
